Howling at a Starless Night
by Linger Zone
Summary: Knives, claws, and gnashing teeth. I may be the runt of the litter, but that's what makes me one of the pack. The world of ninja is fierce. When it bares its fangs, sometimes you don't get to bite back. Inspired by Silver Queen's Dreaming of Sunshine. Reincarnation OC
1. Prologue

Inspired by Silver Queen's Dreaming of Sunshine

Howling at a Starless Night

Knives, claws, and gnashing teeth. I may be the runt of the litter. but that's what makes me one of the pack.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

 _A light snuffed out before its prime._

 _Its ashes and cinders giving birth to a fire that never should have been._

 _As one torch is extinguished, another wick is set aflame._

 _The Will of Fire burns bright._

 _Look too_ _close, and it may blind you_.

I know, I know. I can be a little dramatic at times. I love drama. I love stories.

So let me tell you mine.

But let me give you some backstory before I begin. I lived...a fairly normal life, all things considered. I had a loving family. I had plenty of opportunities. Opportunities that I took. A fresh college graduate, I had a fairly promising future ahead of me.

I was on a flight home to visit after a month of interning at...well it hardly matters now. The point is I was pretty young. I was on a plane. Something went wrong. Weather? Human error? Divine intervention? I suppose it doesn't matter either.

I remember clutching a pen in a death grip. My eyes stung as I scribbled letters on crumpled up napkin sheets. Letters to my family...to my friends. Names that no longer matter. Faces that no longer matter.

Damn. Looks like a lot of things don't matter anymore.

I guess that's what happens when you die. The life you lived...it fades away.

I remember crying my eyes out. Passengers screaming for help. Flight attendants telling people to calm down, that everything was going to be okay. They weren't very good at acting. My body trembled with panic as the hull rattled and creaked. I looked out my window, only to catch sight of the wing on fire, shaking loosely in the wind. I averted my gaze as the aircraft groaned and shuddered around me, ready to brake apart at any second. I realized that this was definitely the end of my all-too-short life.

 _Oh my God I'mgoingtodiehere_

In an instant, there was a flash; I felt no more. I knew no more.

But...

I was still...alive? No. No way I could've survived that. But then...what was this...existence? It was strange, to say the least. I felt again. I felt warm, safe.

And then I was pulled out of the safety. Giant hands wrapped around me and I screamed and cried as a giant woman held me in her arms. I couldn't speak. I couldn't move...anything. My motor skills were nonexistent. I could only cry. And _boy,_ did I cry.

I was a damn _baby_

I never believed in...life after death. Reincarnation.

Apparently I was wrong.

 _So very wrong._

The woman opened her mouth. She spoke words that were almost alien to me. Fortunately I've been to Japan, I recognized the language.

In my old life, I was named...another thing that doesn't matter anymore. I didn't understand what the woman, most likely my mother, was saying; but something told me she was about to say something _really_ important. And out of her mouth flew two words that I somehow knew were my identity. My name.

Mimiko.

 _Inuzuka._

That last name raised some warning bells in my head. That name was familiar. Maybe my brain wasn't developed enough to remember. Come to think of it...how could this brain remember _anything_. It wasn't mine, hell it was brand new. And how could I see or hear this clearly? But I did remember. And I could see. And hear. Hazy though my memories were, there had to be some sort of explanation for why I remembered anything at all.

I didn't believe in a soul.

I guess I was wrong about that too. Because _what else could it possibly be?_ But then that brought up the question of _why my 'soul' was of any importance_. Because really I died before any of my dreams -now completely irrelevant- could come true. But I guess those were questions for another day.

Or lifetime. I was never one for spirituality.

Well now you know a bit about me. Or maybe not. Probably.

Now that that's taken care of, we can get to my story.

So listen up. I don't like repeating myself.

It didn't exactly hit me until I was brought home by way of _suicidal jumping on rooftops_. Damn crazy Inuzuka. Who risks a baby like that? Inuzukas. But anyways, I was brought home. The woman who gave birth to me left me with a wolf-dog thing. I was worried. That dog looked like it had been through hell, ripped ear, missing eye, multiple hairless spots covered in wounds- a fighting dog?- and then it opened its mouth...and talked. My itty bitty brain pretty much exploded. It left me dangling in its mouth like some kind of toy...or snack. Was I going to die again? Eaten by a dog. Hah. ha. ha. ha.

Very funny. Not really. I was terrified.

Everything just sort of clicked in my head. The headbands. The superhuman feats. _Talking dogs._

No way. It wasn't possible...but this...this was an anime world. Improbable as it was, I didn't think I was hallucinating. This is the world of Naruto. A Japanese man's imagination come to life. And I was living it. I dealt with it the only was I really could. I cried.

Apparently my mother had been taking some special medication during her pregnancy. Inuzukas needed to develop their bodies extremely fast in order to learn the clan jutsu. But I was still an anomaly. Inuzukas developed fast, but never as developed as I was when I was born. I may have had no motor skills, but that would be solved with practice, my eyes, nose, and ears were already developed to the level of a toddler's. Most of the med-nin chalked it up to my mother being as good a ninja as she was.

And an Inuzuka.

Inuzukas had a reputation. Inuzuka bodies were treated to perfect the senses and the incredibly dangerous clan techniques. They were a closely guarded village secret. After all, we made the best trackers, and it took more than training and bonding with a ninken to get _Inuzuka_ good at tracking. So the med-nins usually let us deal with our own...problems.

But my chakra...not even the Inuzuka med-nins understood what was going on with my chakra. And they were masters of knowing what the hell goes on in an Inuzuka's body. My physical and spiritual energies almost refused to come into contact. I could produce only enough chakra to keep me alive. The med-nins thought it was because my physical energy was developing much faster due to my body than my spiritual, but they scratched that idea when they found that I _had_ the needed spiritual energy. It just didn't mix with the physical.

That...that was going to be a problem.

Because I was going to be a ninja. And no way was I going to let that stop me. So...my first order of business. Fix my damn chakra.

* * *

A/N:

So. Here's the first chapter...to my first story. There are going to be a lot of parallels to Dreaming of Sunshine, but I'll do my best to keep it original.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Howling at a Starless Night

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Life as a baby. It starts with crying and diapers, and doesn't get any better from there.

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. But seriously, being a baby was horrible. I felt so useless. There was absolutely nothing I could do independently. People had to change my _diapers_ and oh kami that was embarrassing. Absolutely unspeakable. Faced with the unfortunate fact that there was nothing I could do...okay so there was one thing I could do.

I could cry. And I did.

I was raised in the compound, and although mom was there when she could be, Inuzuka trackers were in high demand. Not to mention she was clan head.

So I was mostly raised by clan hound trainers and kennel keepers. They didn't quite know how to raise an actual child...or maybe they just raised me the way they did to awaken my Inuzuka instincts or something. In any case, I was raised like a puppy.

They set food and water on the ground and whistled when it was time to eat or take a bath or whatever. Don't laugh. I thought it was a bit demeaning at first but I guess that's just how my clan worked. They did their job...mostly.

Hana, my older sister, taught me and my older brother Kiba how to read and speak.

I suppose I should have mentioned my siblings earlier, but truthfully I had no clue who they were until Hana started teaching us how to read kanji. She started off with our names, then said that we were all "pack", family. Kiba was a year older, and Hana was seven.

Apparently Tsume had a thing for naming us after body parts. Kiba meant "fang". I guess it fit pretty well, considering that almost all of the clan justu he showed off in the anime had something to do with sharp, pointy, shredding things. Hana could mean "flower" or "nose", but no way Tsume would go for the flower translation. Mimi meant "ear", and thank kami she added a "ko" at the end of my name.

I'm not sure I could handle people calling me Mimi my whole life, it just sounded so... _un-ninja like._ Mimiko doesn't sound much more threatening than Mimi, but I'll take what I can get.

Seriously could you imagine being in a fight when suddenly one of your teammates shouts out the name Mimi. The enemy might just die laughing. Actually that's not the worst idea ever. Maybe I could beat Madara with the power of laughter.

Which reminds me. Madara. Itachi. Akatsuki. A whole lot of _oh shit oh shitohshitshitshitshit._

My knowledge of the anime was pretty baseline. I watched a good number of episodes -not religiously or anything- but enough, enough to know that shit was going to get real. But I suppose I can't worry about those things now. Kami knows I can't even walk, let alone stand up to real _ninja_.

Thankfully the days blurred into weeks, and weeks into months. And even more blurring and oh thank kami I can walk.

Childhood as an Inuzuka was...not what I was expecting. I probably should have though. Me and Kiba were pretty much _always_ surrounded by puppies.

We spent a lot of time play-fighting, grappling each other to the ground with the pups, giving each other light bights (because our teeth were pretty pathetic at this point), all normal, childhood games. Well, I mean if you were some sort of canine.

It's no wonder Inuzuka's have such a strong bond with their ninken; they're basically raised together. I honestly don't have that much experience with dogs, let alone their breeds, but a lot of what Hana taught us was about the breeds that the Inuzuka had. She had made a game out of it, me and Kiba would compete at pretty much anything, so I guess Hana decided to put that to use.

Whoever could label the most dogs with the right breed won. I almost never won, Kiba was really good, and I may have accidentally said some breeds in English. I mean come on, a husky will always be a husky to me.

Apparently, we had masters on canine breeding in charge of making sure we had the best ninken.

I wasn't too impressed until I realized that Kuromaru could _talk_ and that had to have _some_ dependence on Kuromaru's breed. I had no clue what that was though. He seemed a lot more wolf-like than a husky, but it's hard to tell since he's covered in scars.

The Haimaru pups (who, by the way, are absolutely adorable) seem to be ordinary huskies. Well not _ordinary,_ but they seemed regular enough. I'm pretty sure Kiba was teaching Akamaru to talk before Shippuden, and there was some success. Thoughts for the future, anyway.

Speaking of the Haimaru brothers, they were currently trailing Hana who had just arrived home.

And she was talking to a friend. I glanced at her visitor as they walked up the staircase leading to her room. Her friend's milky white eyes betrayed her Hyuga heritage. They looked like they were in a pretty serious conversation. No way I could resist listening in. I had exceptional hearing capabilities, after all. Unfortunately, I hadn't learned to channel chakra into my nose and ears to improve my senses yet, so I would have to settle for my natural Inuzuka ability.

"Hey Hana, you sure it's okay to leave your sister with your dogs? I'm not so sure that's how you take care of toddlers." Apparently some ninja actually had some sense.

"The dogs are completely safe, and besides, Kiba and Mimiko are almost old enough to attend the academy." That bit was actually surprising. I thought the academy was a long time away from now.

"Oh, alright." There was a short silence before the Hyuga let out a loud sigh. "I was thinking about trying to graduate early...did you hear about Itachi-kun? Such a shame we won't be seeing him at the academy anymore." Of course Itachi had graduated early. He was _Itachi_.

I remember Hana trying to graduate early too, but she didn't quite make the cut. If my memory serves me right, Hana was still a chunin by shippuden. I suppose it's unfair to say she was _still_ a chunin, from what I could gleam from idle chatter amongst our caretakers, most chunin didn't make it to jounin until 26, and even then they were more likely to have been special jounin, having jounin skill level only at a certain field. The Konoha 12 were quite something indeed.

"Itachi-kun was so cool," the Hyuga said in a surprisingly squeal-like voice. "Becoming a genin already at such a young age."

So this Hyuga was a fangirl huh? I guess it's not really fair to judge her, but it was surprising to note that not every Hyuga was a stick in the mud *cough*HiashiNeji*cough*. In hindsight, it shouldn't have been too farfetched for majority of the branch family Hyuga not to have major I'm-a-caged-bird issues. Go figure.

"Forget about that Uchiha," Hana replied, voice strangely tight. You go nee-chan! Deny the ways of the fangirl! "I kinda hoped we would be placed on the same team if I passed. I thought that...never mind, not like I passed anyway."

 _Aaand there goes all my respect for my sister._ Damn those Uchiha!They had to be the reason for at least half of Konoha's fangirls.

It may be immature to blame them for something so silly, but still. It's no wonder Konoha kunoichi had a reputation. Kunoichi like Tsunade, Tsume, and Kurenai were the exception, not the norm. The female-to-male ratio only got worse each rank, the academy starts out at almost 1:1, genin was 1:3, chunin was a sad 1:6, and female jounin were exceedingly rare. To be fair, other hidden villages also had a relatively low amount of kunoichi, but it was really only Konoha that had such a problem with fangirls.

Kiri might have just killed any fangirls before they got to genin.

It's a good thing the Konoha 12 produced some pretty exceptional kunoichi. Well...they were gonna get there. Eventually.

"Let's get some dango, thinking about Itachi-kun leaving the academy is depressing." They stepped out of Hana's room and made their way down the stairs.

And that was my cue to pretend I wasn't listening. Hana and her Hyuga friend approached the door before Hana addressed me, "Miko, okaasan won't be home for a few more days. You should go find Kiba and make sure he knows, just in case he's looking for her."

"Sure thing nee-chan!" I replied with a bright smile. Hana smiled back and promptly left the compound.

* * *

Kiba was somewhere in the marketplace by the fruit vendors. I could smell him. My nose may not be the best, but I was still a born tracker, and it was infinitely easier finding the scent of someone you spent plenty of time with. Their scent just kinda embeds itself into your brain.

I spotted him crouching behind an old food stall, head peeking around the cracked wood surveying the surrounding area. His eyes darted to me and he waved me over as inconspicuously as he could.

 _"Psst_ , _Miko, over here."_ He called to me in a whisper. My ears picked it up pretty easily.

"Hey Miko, me and the guys were playing ninja, Shikamaru -the lazy kid with the pineapple hair- is supposed to be the hunter-nin. He should be looking for us, but his scent hasn't left the clearing by the academy. Could you please get him motivated? Tell him I'll lay it on thick for his mom about how much of a good influence and natural leader and stuff he is if he wins." Kiba asked.

"Sure thing nii-chan. Oh before I forget, okaasan won't be home for a few more days." I replied as I started making my way to the location of the lazy Nara.

"Aww man, I wanted to ask her about getting my ninken already..." Kiba muttered as I walked away. Maybe I should think about finding my partner too. After all, what was an Inuzuka without her faithful companion?

* * *

About ten minutes later found me witness to a familiar conversation.

"Shikamaru if you don't get off your lazy-"

"Hey guys," I decided to interrupt before Ino could get into her stride. For a little girl, she had an impressive set of lungs. "My brother says he'll tell your mom you've been using helping out at the kennel as an excuse to go cloud watching if you don't find him, Shikamaru." Not quite what Kiba told me to say, but I'm pretty sure Shikamaru would respond better to this.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said, not really addressing anyone in particular. He disappeared surprisingly fast. Probably to get away from Ino.

"Hmph. The nerve of that guy. Leaving a lady in the middle of an important speech." Ino ranted.

The first time I had met Ino was around a month ago. While Kiba and I were very close, I had no interest in playing ninja.

It wasn't a challenge at all. I'm not being cocky or anything, none of the clan kids could really mold chakra yet, so clan jutsu were out.

Everyone would know that a Hyuga was cheating just by looking at his eyes. The Aburame also had no interest in games -but probably for entirely different reasons. All that left the Inuzuka. We didn't need chakra for something so easy, and Kiba probably enjoyed knowing that he could literally win every round without fail. So here I was, with Ino.

"Hey Ino," I called. She still looked like she was annoyed at Shikamaru, but we got on fairly well. "Wanna go people-watching?"

Ino also didn't like playing much. Probably so she wouldn't get dirt on her clothes. Instead, Ino preferred to do something she called "people-watching". It was probably an exercise for Yamanaka kids to get some basic experience in personality reading. Or maybe Ino just really liked gossip. Or both. Anyway, she introduced me to it, and we would sit on the road...well, watching people. We would try to gauge as much as we could from how they looked, their facial expressions, their clothes. Plenty of things really.

"Ah, sure Miko. Let's take the usual spot." Ino replied after a few moments of silence.

She headed towards our favorite spot; a little cafe by the market. Markets were crowded and noisy. Exactly what we wanted. We were pretty much the only clan kids in our age group that didn't like playing ninja, so we ended up people-watching together quite often.

Well, Shino and Hinata might count, but they never really interacted with the other kids. Clan kids were, of course, encouraged to foster good relations with the other clans by interacting with other kids from the same age group. Some clans took it seriously like the main branch of the Hyuga, who arranged formal tea ceremonies to introduce their heirs to the other clans, and then there were the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans that seemed to be one big conjoined family.

I have no clue what the Inuzuka really did to keep up relations. Though I suspect it has something to do with our trackers.

We arrived at the cafe around seven minutes later. Ino took a seat at our usual table and I followed suit. A waitress arrived to take our orders and Ino ordered us a plate of dango to share.

"What do you think they're doing? Probably on a date. " I followed Ino's gaze and found myself doing a double take. _Was that Asuma and Kurenai?_ It wasn't actually that easy to identify characters because apparently anime and manga did _not_ translate that well into _real._ Well, it gave me a little jolt every time I recognized a character, because _damn_ it was weird.

"They look cute together," Ino started.

She was pretty good at analyzing people, but couples brought out her inner matchmaker.

"Yeah...he has that gruff bad-boy kind of look that totally compliments her -Oh Kami, is that...it is! It's Sasuke-kun," she interrupted herself.

 _Sigh._ And cute boys brought out the worst in her. Shame, I wanted to hear what she had to say about Asuma complimenting Kurenai's _something_ with his badassery. So much fuel for the future. "Quick, Miko, how do I look? Is my hair alright? What about my outfit? Oh no wha-" I tuned her questions out and tried to focus on Asuma and Kurenai.

While Ino was good at watching people, I had a knack for listening in on conversations.

I suppose it might be considered an invasion of privacy, but we lived in a ninja village. Surveillance was a given.

Besides, anyone who knew anything important was smart enough to keep quiet about any potentially dangerous information. Listening in to conversations was actually my main source of information, it's how I know most of the things I tell you.

As it stands, mundane conversations on ninjas, politics, and pretty much anything really were extremely useful for a scrub like me. For enemy infiltrators? Pretty much completely uses. Not much they could do with the knowledge that the Hyuga preferred Jasmine tea over Oolong. Unless they came up with some sort of Jasmine tea related assassination attempt. Then I would be impressed.

"I'm gonna take the jounin exam later. Sensei thinks I'll make it this time." Kurenai said to Asuma. He let out a sigh, "Kurenai, you know I have complete faith in you, but being a jounin is completely different from-"

"Yes, yes, I know Asuma," Kurenai interrupted. "I've been trying for years, surely I'm qualified by now." So I guess Kurenai wasn't jounin yet. Interesting. I actually had no clue what the jounin exam was, but they weren't publicized, we had the chunin exams to display our village's ability already.

"I may not like it, but the old-man's very likely to pass you. We don't have many genjutsu users left, and you _have_ been a special-jounin for forever. I wouldn't worry if I were you." Asuma responded.

"Thanks," Kurenai said in a relieved tone. "I can't wait to get my first apprentice, then in a few years time I could try for a genin team. Oh hey Asuma, if I decide to take a team, could you take one too?"

I could see Asuma's conflicted expression from here. He obviously didn't want the responsibility.

"Sure, why not," Asuma replied. That was...unexpectedly sweet of him. "It'll annoy the old-man if I smoke around kids." Asuma gave an arrogant smirk that I thought was fake. Apparently Kurenai thought it was fake too; she didn't slap him _that_ hard. She left him rubbing a red-looking cheek and walked away. I couldn't stop myself from giggling.

Well...that was interesting, to say the least. The by-play was actually very enjoyable. I had originally only listened to their conversation because they were shinobi. I guess couples would be fine too. They provided quality entertainment.

"Miko are you even listening to a word I'm saying?" Ino's loud voice pulled me from my thoughts, painfully aware of the irony of her statement.

"Sorry Ino, I couldn't help but watch the shinobi couple." I tried my best to appease an angry Ino.

"Alright fine," Ino started. "I can forgive you since they were an awesome couple. Having the time to maintain a relationship while still being shinobi. How romantic. Maybe one day me and Sasuke-kun could - I tuned her out again.

She'll most likely still be talking about Sasuke when I start talking to her again anyway. I spotted two ninja who resembled Izumo and Kotetsu. They looked young. I grabbed a dango, and listened in.

Who knows what one might overhear in the Village Hidden in the Leaves?


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Regarding Miko's team placement, I felt she would be too far from the action on another Konoha 9 team, and creating an entirely OC team is something I'm definitely not good enough for yet. So...I'm planning on putting her on team 7. Or having her part of the genin corps, because that would open up a lot of possibilities. Probably not, but maybe. Anyways, graduation won't happen for another couple chapters.

Also, wow I haven't updated in more than a month. Whoops. I'll try to keep a better schedule.

Besides some formatting, I've changed some things in the writing style and am experimenting with how to go on, so **expect some inconsistencies with the general style and how Miko refers to others and vice-versa (okaasan or mom, Hana or nee-chan, etc.),** but I'm sure I'll figure it out in a couple chapters. Maybe.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't own much, really.

Howling at a Starless Night

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

The sounds of sniffling and whimpering invaded my ears as I struggled in my half-sleep. _Damnit Kiba, just because we shared a room_...only Kiba _wasn't_ the one crying. I heard him snoring on the other side of our shared room, only now beginning to stir. Kiba leaned up and rubbed the sleep out of his half-lidded eyes.

"Miko, what's wrong?" he asked me in a soft voice. Wait a minute, I wasn't the one crying! I raised a hand to my cheek only to find it coming away wet.

What. The. Hell.

Why was I crying in my sleep? I had no clue, until I registered a blinding pain. It felt like twisting screws and nails were having a party in my nervous system. I wasn't prepared for this. Not in the least. I tried to move, but my body refused to obey me. What was going on? I jerked backwards and forwards uncontrollably, my mouth open in a silent scream.

I had never felt such pain in my life. Either of them.

"Hey, hey Miko, what's wrong? I'll go get nee-chan," Kiba said, panic painting his face as he ran out of our room.

I felt my vision strain in the dark, and before I knew it my sight went black.

"Miko, calm down, everything will be alright, I'm here now," came the voice of my sister, just as my vision returned to me. I had been hyperventilating. I still was. My breathing was fast, erratic, and I couldn't control it no matter how hard I tried.

Sharp, unbearable twisting sensations rattled through my body, like my veins were wrapping around each other and constricting. I felt my eyes roll back and my vision swam in darkness.

The next time I woke, it was to the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

"We don't really know why she's having such an adverse reaction to forming chakra coils," came a feminine voice I couldn't recognize. "Her case is extremely strange, we had thought that she was done forming chakra coils in her infancy, but here she is forming brand new ones."

What the hell was going on?

"Thanks doc, I'll have the boys in the clan look her over once you give her the all-clear." Now that voice was familiar. Tsume, my mother, was here. Which was a bit strange, since she was always too busy with clan stuff or missions.

"The best explanation we could come up with was that her body somehow managed to store chakra... _somewhere_ other than her coils. She never really needed large chakra pathways before as she only produced below-civilian levels of chakra, but now her pathways are extending, enlarging, and even forming new chakra coils. We have most of the answers, all except where the energies required to form chakra came from in the first place. She couldn't possibly have produced the amount she had just flowing in her body," the female doctor explained. "We were hoping you could shed some light on that, Inuzuka-sama."

Inuzuka- _sama._ Man, Tsume got some mad respect.

Also, what the hell are they talking about?

"Looks like she's awake, how you doin' pup?" Mom asked, leaning in closer to me.

The doctor sighed, taking the dismissal for what it was. "Fine, Inuzuka-sama, but please make sure to have your daughter checked. I expect a full report by your clan med-nin, this could be serious."

"No problem, doc," Mom called to the retreating form of the medical ninja.

Trying to form words was difficult, my mouth felt dry and my throat tore as I put my vocal chords to use, but I managed to speak to my mom.

"W-what happened to me, I-"

"Don't stress yourself, pup," Mom interrupted. "Everything's fine Miko, just rest for now."

Somehow, I _did_ feel extremely tired. My body was aching everywhere. I tried to fight a yawn, but Mom just eased me into the sheets. I was straining to keep my eyes open, but my efforts proved useless. I let sleep overtake me once again.

* * *

The first thing that greeted me when I woke up was a face in uncomfortably close proximity.

"Wha- Kibaaa," I managed to gurgle out as I pushed said brother away from me. "Personal space, please."

"Hey, I keep watch to make sure you don't burn up or anything and this is the thanks I get?" He asked, voice slightly teasing. "Well, at least you're not dead, right?"

"Jeez Kiba, thanks for making me feel better," I said, somewhat sarcastically. "Seriously though, how long have I been out?"

He frowned. "You've been here a week. No clue why though, you just woke up one night and you were kinda screaming and crying and stuff, Mom and Nee-chan brought you here."

He made a funny face, like he was sniffing something and it turned out to be a pile of- "What's with the 'Kiba'? Give your nii-san the proper respect," he interrupted my thoughts, a playful smirk on his face.

I laughed. "Alright alright. Sorry, _niiiiii-chaaaaan,_ " I said, stretching his hard-won title.

Kiba scowled at the 'cutesy' addition of chan. He'd always been annoyed by that. Somehow, I found it amusing. Nii-chan it is.

It's not like I haven't called him that before, but it was always just playfully. I honestly couldn't see him as an older sibling. Same with Hana. My mental age just wouldn't allow it.

Family? Sure.

Older brother? Older sister? Not so much.

I mean, the dynamic was all there. The part of the little sister came naturally to me, but there was just something stopping me from seeing myself as the youngest sibling. I still loved them very much though.

It was hard enough with Tsume, but after awhile it became natural to see her as my mother. I guess she changed my diapers _just enough_ _times_ to make it to 'mother' category in my head.

"What am I gonna do with a little sis like you," he sighed rhetorically, closing his eyes. "Onee-chan's been really worried, but she's real busy and stuff now that she's a genin. I'll tell her later that you're up now, so expect her sometime tomorrow."

He caught me up on what's been going on. Not much, besides Hana making genin.

"You'll be outta here in a few days, no sweat, sis," He drawled. "Anyways, smell ya later."

He waved and turned to leave, but right as he opened the door I felt something... _strange_ coming from him. Like the area he was in was heavy with...something. He closed the door, and I was alone again.

I tried to focus. What was that? Calming my mind, I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. Was I going crazy? Maybe I _do_ need more rest.

But as I leaned down, ready to sleep away my sudden bout of insanity, I suddenly felt that same _something_ in my body.

Startled, I jumped up straight off my bed, landing with a thud on the hospital room floor. My backside stung from the impact, but I couldn't really divert my attention from whatever I was...seeing? Feeling?

Again, I closed my eyes. I felt that same _something_ everywhere in my body. I can't really describe the feeling. It was a bit like the sensation of going numb, the tingling of pins and needles, only it wasn't physically affecting me. I opened my eyes, and focused on my body. It took a few minutes, but I finally registered that the feeling was just kinda...always there. I just couldn't notice it unless I focused really hard. Weird.

...but if it was just a feeling, then what was I seeing in Kiba?

A question for another day, I decided. The sun was setting, and my head ached from the effort.

I picked myself off the floor, untangled the sheets, and went to bed. Hopefully tomorrow would bring me some answers. More answers than questions, anyway.

* * *

You know that feeling after your first cup of coffee in the morning? That strange energy and willpower you wondered how you could ever live without? I was feeling it.

Definitely. Feeling. It.

Hana was seated in a guest chair across my bed, staring at me like I was a rabid dog. Okay maybe that was inappropriate. She was staring at me, alright?

"Could you repeat that," she drawled, scratching the back of her head. She paused for a moment. "Slower this time."

I nodded. "Um, alright." I opened my mouth to breathe in,

"Sowho'sonyourteamwho'syourjouninsenseihaveyougoneonanymissionsyethoware-"

"Stop," She interrupted. "Alright, which one of those nurses gave you fifteen pounds of sugar."

I was about to respond, when she shoved her hand on my mouth.

"Don't answer that," she said. "What's with you today? And answer me _slowly_ this time. As in, people speed, alright Miko?"

I nodded, her hand still on my mouth.

She opened her mouth to speak, slowly and deliberately. "I'm going to remove my hand now alright? And then you're gonna talk. Like a person. Remember, Miko, like _people_."

Once again, I nodded. She brought her hand back down, dripping in my saliva. She stared at it for a few moments, made a pensive face, then sighed.

"Okay Miko, first question," she said flatly, eyes closed and head leaning on her non-spit covered hand.

"Who's on your team?" I asked, as slowly as I could.

"Hideyo Hyuuga and Shiori Aburame," she replied.

I was about to open my mouth when she interrupted.

"No, I do not 'like' Hideyo in that way."

I was about to again, when she stopped me halfway through my lips parting.

"Neither do I 'like' Shiori in that way."

Well, she predicted those questions accurately. I supposed it wasn't that hard, considering I've been pretty merciless on her regarding Itachi. Itachi was my ultimate weapon against her, and if she was just as boy-crazy as Ino, I might get some more 'ultimate weapons'.

I smirked. "Who's your sensei?" I asked, already readying my assault.

"Rei Kurama," Hana replied. "She's a genjutsu user. One of the few jounin in that specialization, actually. She can place area wide genjutsu just by marking trees with different colors."

That was cool. Really cool. But I just couldn't resist. My attack was about to commence.

I grinned. "You seem to really like her."

"Of course, she's amazing. She even knows medical jutsu," she stated evenly, completely unaware of my surprise attack.

"So you...like her 'in that way'?" I asked innocently, firing off my finishing move. I cackled to myself. Bwahahaha, no way she was prepared.

Hana slapped herself with extra force, submitting to my finisher with her 'super face-palm'. Apparently, she forgot the condition of her hand, because I heard a wet 'squish' sound as her hand impacted her face. She quickly remembered, hastily canceling her 'super face-palm' technique.

She stared at her drool-covered hand in horror for what seemed like an eternity.

Slowly, she turned to face me.

"Why do I even...how am I...what did I do to deserve..." Hana sputtered, my saliva glistening on her face.

"I hate you," she stated flatly, as a drop of spit hung from her cheek.

Ah, victory was sweet.

* * *

The whole time Hana was here, I couldn't really notice the _something_...that is, until she slapped herself.

I was focusing on her face when she was staring at my hand, and there - I...felt(?) it. It was like energy? Her essence? I didn't think it was something that everyone had in them until I saw(?) it in Hana. It wasn't quite like mine. Hana's felt warm, like a hug. It was also kinda minty. Does that make any sense? Probably not, but I couldn't really describe it any other way. Mine was...I had no clue how to put it really, it just felt like...me.

Okay, maybe none of this makes sense to you. Try thinking of warm and cool in terms of art. Red, yellow, and orange were the 'warm' colors, and blue, purple, and all that jazz(heh) were 'cool'. It's kinda like that, except in feeling? Okay. This is impossible. Maybe if I just found out what this weird 'energy' stuff was I cou...

Wait.

Noooo.

Yeeeees.

Could it really...

No?

Yes.

I'm an idiot.

Okay ignore that argument I just had with myself. How could I be so dense? Of course it was chakra!

Thinking of it as chakra, it all made sense. How I could only feel it now...it wasn't something that I had access to in my past life, so my body would definitely be unfamiliar with it. How I could feel it at all...well I was bound to notice chakra eventually. Living a life without it would probably give me enough experience to tell what didn't quite belong in my old world.

Well. Now that I know what this is...probably.

I can do stuff. Erm. Eventually.

For now, I was all out of gas.

I looked at my bedside table. On it, stood a framed photo of me and Kiba, smiling in our mother's arms, a feral grin adorning her face. Hana stood to the right, smiling pleasantly as she held her head in her hands. A large group of dogs circled around us, Kuromaru to the far left. Yeahp. Family.

Hana brought it along with her and left it for me.

Far away from home, I slept soundly anyway.

* * *

A/N: Converting pages to word then uploading it to ff sometimes screws up parts. gah.


	4. Chapter 3

Howling at a Starless Night

A/N: remember how I said I would update faster? Whoops.

Also, since I haven't said it yet, this isn't quite a self-insert, Miko is almost nothing like me. This is me testing the waters really.

On a side note, I've changed the rating to M just in case, because my plans seem to be heading in that direction.

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

Being mostly alone in the hospital room left me with loads of time to spare, so I decided to focus on chakra. I watched it course through my veins and I tried getting a _feel_ of it. It felt so natural. Like the inhale and exhale of air. I didn't even notice it most of the time, like it was the blood flowing in my veins.

Well, probably because it _was_ natural to this body.

It's too bad I had no clue how to use it whatsoever. Like the flow of blood, my body pretty much did whatever to it without me having to manage it. Good stuff.

Now if only I could control it.

Once in awhile a nurse would come in, check my temperature, leave some food, and take some of my blood. Normal hospital-ey stuff.

I took this time to try to see their chakra networks. Really, all I got was fuzzy static. But hey, it was something. The static flowed, and that was the thing that made it hard to read. Really, Hana's was the only one I could get a feel of, but those were just the general feelings her body gave off, the ebb and flow of chakra was a lot harder to pinpoint.

I was trying to make the static less...fuzzy by concentrating as hard as possible on the chakra flowing in my arm.

It was an uphill battle. I felt like I was looking at a snowstorm. Nothing made sense to me in the chaos, and just as I decided it was pointless for the moment, the door flew open.

"Miko, no time to stare at your hands now," Hana sort-of greeted, barging into the room. "Today's the day you get outta here."

She smiled brightly, extending her arm to me. I stared at her outstretched hand, transfixed at the buzzing static of chakra as her sudden presence shifted my concentration from my hand to hers. Numbly, I noticed the feelings being in proximity with her caused. Warmth. Comfort. Still not quite sure what that mint was though.

Chakra. What a mystery.

Already my head was aching from my continued efforts to see chakra. I needed to work on that. Unfortunately, it seems my hospitalization has been bad for my mischievous side. I hadn't had the urge to make fun of Hana at all, and she's already been here for a whole minute.

A whole minute! I must be seriously out of it, if even Hana's presence wasn't enough to get me out of my whatever-induced funk.

"Well, don't just stand there. Let's go!" she said, rushing me. Why was she in such a hurry? Hana had been visiting me along with the rest of my family over the course of my hospitalization, and I got the sense that something was going on.

Nothing big, but _something._

Kiba had been jittery during his last few visits. Hana was constantly asking me when I was ready to be discharged. Mom just...did whatever Tsume did and was the only one who seemed normal.

Well, normal as in not out-of-the-usual strange.

All-in-all, I was getting pretty suspicious. It probably had something to do with the academy, I heard Hana saying that Kiba was due to start next month. I didn't think about it much at first, but it was going to get pretty lonely once the Konoha 9 are occupied with whatever the hell they teach kids to become _soldiers_.

Numbly, I took her outstretched hand and she quickly led me out of the room. It was a little embarrassing, being led around like a lost puppy. She didn't even bother letting me get out of my hospital gown!

"Um, Inuzuka-san," a nurse called, causing Hana to pause for a moment. "Your sister isn't quite ready to be discharged yet. The doctors are worried about her relapsing into her chakra-sickness."

Chakra sickness? Well...I'm not quite sure what _exactly_ that means about my body. Is it because my...coils(?) are overflowing or something? More questions for another day, I guess.

"In light of her recent chakra issues," Hana started, sounding only slightly rehearsed. "The Inuzuka-clan has decided that our medical specialists will handle her treatment."

"O-oh alright then, Inuzuka-san," the nurse replied nervously.

Walking through the hospital, I was fascinated by the chakra signatures of the doctors and nurses.

Also by Hana's. When I focused on her, I saw the same static. But Hana's was faster, it flowed with a certain ferocity that couldn't be matched by most others in the hospital. Like it was hungry.

There was just something about chakra that made it _addicting_ to look at. Unfortunately for me, my head was starting to hurt again. I closed my eyes, ending my concentration on my sister's chakra signature. I let Hana drag me through the corridors as we made our way out of the hospital.

"Open your eyes, don't wanna get into any accidents do you Miko?" Hana asked, my eyes still closed.

"Nee-chan, I'm not feeling so good," I said, opening my eyes, only to be met with a stinging migraine. Immediately, I slammed my hand into my face, blocking the world from my sight. Gravel impacted my knees as I fell, and my headache died down.

Hana gently picked me up off the ground, carrying me in her arms.

"Don't worry, we're almost home," Hana said, after a few minutes of silence.

I groaned in response. Her arms tightened around me, and her pace quickened. I felt a steady beating from her chest, slowly growing faster as she ran.

The rhythmic sounds of her heart beating and wooden sandals impacting the ground as she ran were oddly comforting, blocking off the hustle and bustle of Konoha.

"Ne, Miko, are you planning on..." she trailed off, leaving her sentence unfinished.

Curious, I opened my eyes and looked up at her from my position, silently asking her to complete her question.

"Do you want to be a ninja?" she asked bluntly.

I continued to look at her, but she wouldn't meet my eyes. I wasn't sure if that was because she was focused on getting me home...or something else.

After a few moments, I closed my eyes again.

"Yes," I said.

There was nothing else to say. Yes. I was going to be a ninja.

I didn't follow up, and neither did Hana. The air started to feel heavy and awkward, nonetheless we continued in silence.

I lost consciousness in Hana's arms soon after.

* * *

The next day I woke up alone in a relatively empty room. I rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes and checked my surroundings. Lots of free space, plain white walls, and...not much else. Not even a window to tell where the Sun was. One of the spare guest rooms then.

Strange. Why a guest room?

And why did I feel...different? I couldn't put my finger on it, but something's changed...

Suddenly, the door flew wide open, kicked off its hinges completely. It flew past me and with a deafening crash, impacted with the wall, leaving a painfully obvious hole.

"Welcome to your new room!" my mother all but shouted.

New room? But wait, what?

I've always shared a room with Kiba, and well...

The room felt empty.

Not to mention that it was now missing a door.

Tsume shifted her gaze to the wall on my right.

"We'll fix that," she stated flatly, probably referring to the gaping hole on my wall. "...and that too," she said, pointedly looking at the pile of splinters that used to be a door.

"Well, this room really needed a window anyway," Tsume beamed. "It's a lot less drab in here now."

Light flittered in through my new 'window' and it just started sinking in. _My_ new 'window'. Not ours, not mine and Kiba's, or even mine and Hana's, but mine. Just mine. Vaguely, I could see mom's mouth moving, and hear something about a repainting, but it was all just _glare_ and _noise_ to my thoughts.

Was this good? Did I want a place to myself? I didn't know if I wanted it or not, but it was _new_.

And I wanted new. Weirdly enough, the thought just hit me then. My life so far has been _drab,_ boring, and I live in a friggin' ninja village. Honest-to-God(Kami?) ninjas! What the hell have I been doing so far? I've been doing squat, that's what!

I needed to step up my game. If I wanted to survive, anyway.

I couldn't quite process what my mother was saying, so I just kind-of sat there. Tsume's face popping in five-inches away from mine jostled me out of my attempts at grasping the situation. Slowly, I leaned back, her left eyebrow rising as I widened the distance between us.

"Um..uh-well uhhhh," I word-vomited with all the elegance of a drunk baboon. What was going on again?

Room. Alone. Right.

Again, I got the slight niggling that I was different now somehow.

"W-what's going on? Is something wrong with me and Kiba's room?" I asked.

"Oh, well you know," she turned and paced around the room a bit, "your brother is starting the academy soon, and you're just about to get started on the Inuzuka basics, so I thought it was finally time to get you your own room."

"Kiba's starting the academy without me already?" I said with painfully obvious distress. I should work on being less transparent.

"I did start Kiba on the Inuzuka basics last year, so it's only fitting that you get a year of training before you go the academy," Tsume explained.

Well, I guess I should have seen this coming and prepared better for it. It's not like...

Wait, why was mom telling me this? Did she come visit me...just for this?

"Kaa-san, I'm not that much younger than Kiba, right?" I poked, hoping that my hunch was right.

"That's right," Tsume faced me again and nodded. I noticed a slight quirking at the edge of her lips.

"If I kept up training...do you think I could start academy early?" I asked, trying to sound as hopeful and sincere as possible.

Tsume's smirk was my answer.

She ruffled my hair and looked me in the eyes.

"You're gonna have a lotta catching up to do, pup," she said, addressing me with the traditional Inuzuka pet-name. "Think you can handle it?"

I nodded as quickly as possible.

She grinned. "We'll get started on your training soon. Just get some rest for now."

Just as Tsume was about to leave I realized how tired I was. Still tired...but I just woke up...what even...

As I watched my mom walk out my empty doorway, I noticed something. I raised my arm up...but what I saw wasn't...me.

I mean it was my arm, yeah, but...

The flow, the static, something wasn't right. It felt faster. _Angrier_. This...didn't belong in me. This was a predator's, not mine.

Somehow I didn't think my eyes were lying. I didn't think my chakra was lying.

I don't know if I was meant to hear it or not, but as my mother walked out the door, I heard her mutter something under her breath. My ears were good after all, even for an Inuzuka.

I didn't have the time nor the will to ponder what she meant though. I could already feel the strain of having looked at my...this chakra for too long. It felt like taking in too much oxygen. Like I had drained myself just looking at whatever is flowing through me. It felt wild. Unstable. It was in me.

 _"So she is a fighter,"_ she said, " _wonder if little Miko can make it."_


	5. Chapter 4

Howling at a Starless Night

A/N: I'll go ahead and say that it's an AU. While I won't deviate _too_ far from canon (meaning you can expect major canon events to happen), things probably won't happen in the same way. **Slight spoiler alert:** The first fairly major deviation will be revealed in this chapter, and hopefully **in the future,** it'll inject some clan tension.

Just a heads up though, since these won't be very important until somewhere later on.

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

Tattoos were never really my thing. I mean sure, tattoos could be cool, but I'd rather have been the one to make the decision. Or you know, choose what it was and where it went. Nope.

Not for one living in the leaf. Not for an Inuzuka.

Numbly, I scratched at the fang-like mark on my left cheek. The Inuzuka were one of the most primal clans in the Elemental nations, and it showed.

The design was simplistic, almost tribal. Two curved fangs, one under each eye, tattooed in eye-popping crimson. They covered up a significant portion of the cheeks.

The tattoos were garish and somewhat crude, like a beacon on my face it sent a pretty clear message; _I am dangerous._ Simple. Straightforward. The Inuzuka way. If only it were true.

Of course that was just the tattoo itself, without any context or perspective. What we want to tell people who haven't heard of us yet, or places where the signature tattoo isn't prominent or feared. The fangs on our faces make for great first impressions.

It's not very well known, but to the Inuzuka they aren't just for show. In reality they are so much more.

Our clan library has a fairly large stockpile of scrolls and books that detail hunting, anatomy, breeding, and a whole lot of other useful topics. But not much outside the realm of absolute necessities.

While I commend the practicality of my clan, the lack of fiction and history is annoying. Frustrated, I slammed the scroll in my hand onto the table.

Apparently, a scroll titled "The Evolution of the Inuzuka" wasn't quite what I was looking for. Hard enough to find as it was, this scroll was barely history, and more of a statistics record.

The only thing that even remotely resembled what I wanted was a throwaway line about Inuzuka tattoos seemingly making them fiercer warriors. No how, no why, just that it did.

Guess that's what I get for reading civilian grade material. The rest of the scroll had stats on some famous Inuzukas being badass, details on near impossible manhunts and missions. Kinda cool, but not what I needed right now.

So you might be wondering, "But what's so important about some tattoos, Miko?"

Well I wasn't that interested at all actually, but I'd been exploring my chakra lately, and while I couldn't _do_ anything with it, I could feel it coursing through me. A few days ago, I found something peculiar. There were points in my system where chakra just got wilder. Like it wanted to be released, contrasting to the relative peaceful ebb and flow of the rest of my chakra.

It was the predator again, waiting to pounce. I had found it!

That ferocity that had been bothering me the past few weeks. Curiously enough, two of those points were on my cheeks.

Right where my Inuzuka fang marks are.

It wasn't that hard to connect the dots. Now the questions were "how" and "why."

Unfortunately for me, civilian grade scrolls looked to be a dead-end.

I could try my luck with the Genin level ones, but well...those had security. And while you might scoff at the idea of "Genin-level", there's some pretty sensitive information that genin are given, and it wouldn't be wise to let any old civilian or _*cough* spy *cough*_ waltz in and access a near literal treasure trove of info.

You'd be surprised at the sheer amount of things a spy could do with nothing but a patrol schedule, or a list of potential clients for missions.

I left the clan library, deciding to abandon my search for answers among the sparse offerings for the moment.

* * *

Strolling around the fairly sizable clan compound, I spotted Hana chatting with a familiar looking Hyuuga by a tea shop.

Hana's eyes met mine, and she sent a glare my way. A glare I convinced myself was full of love and affection.

What's she doing with her mouth? Is she snarling? Kami, how could you have blessed me with such a wonderful sister.

Closing in on the pair, I managed to catch some of their conversation.

"Is something the matter, Hana? You look like you've smelled something particularly sour," asked the pale eyed Hyuuga, watching her with unrestrained confusion.

"Hmm? Oh, what were you saying again? It was nothing, just an unpleasant scent carried by the wind," Hana said, quickly returning her focus to the Hyuuga. "So, what about the Hyuuga affair?"

The Hyuuga affair? If I remembered correctly, it was when some hot-shot cloud ninja attempted to kidnap Hinata under the guise of signing some treaty, or something.

Wasn't Hinata like, three at the time? Ninjas can be such bastards. Although I suppose that would be a given, some might even say it's written in the job description.

Whatever the case, I don't think relations improved until Naruto came along. Which is...a long time from now. I'm also not quite sure if the war ever really ended. I mean, it seems like both sides just sustained too many casualties to keep the fighting up.

Sooo I guess we're pretty much stuck in cold war mode until Naruto gets the big hat.

Hmmm, now that I think about it, did Naruto ever really use th-

"The attempted poisoning, originally blamed on the visiting Cloud-nin, is still undergoing investigation by the more experienced Byakugan users," The Hyuuga calmly intoned, jarring me out of my thoughts.

Wait, what? Poisoning? I don't remember this.

Curious, I decided to join the conversation. I made my way to them quickly and took a seat by the table.

"Oh, hello Mimiko-san," Hana's friend greeted politely.

"Just Miko please," I returned, the unpleasant reminder of my name causing me to frown.

"Of course, Miko-san. I don't believe we've been properly introduced, I am Hideyo Hyuuga, of Team Rei," He said, bowing his head in greeting.

Awkwardly, I returned the gesture. Most people saw me as a runt, and didn't bother with any formalities, so it was a bit peculiar having a boy much older than me mind his manners.

Hideyo was passive and exuded an aura of serenity. His eyes were the traditional milky white of his clan, and he seemed overly polite. Something told me that behind his forehead protector, there was an extremely unpleasant seal.

"Erm, Hideyo," Hana choked out, glaring daggers at me. "I think we should change the subject matter, maybe something a little bit more appropriate for Miko -like um..."

Hana's eyes darted around, searching for something. Finally, they landed on a tray of skewered sweets held by a passing waiter.

Taking out a small crumpled-up bill, she grabbed a stick of dango from the passing waiter and replaced it with the bill, the server none-the-wiser.

That was fairly impressive, actually.

"Here, Miko, you're fed, you can go now," Hana said, annoyance tinging her tone.

"Bu-," She stuck the stick into my mouth, interrupting me.

Biting off the rice-flour dumpling at the end, I grabbed the stick and pulled it out. I still had three more pieces on the skewer.

Chewing on the dango, I broke through the soft exterior and was met with the sweet, creamy filling.

Green tea flavored. Mmmmmm. It was like heaven in my mouth. Chewy, creamy, light, sweet.

I love swe-

Wait.

Opening my eyes, because apparently I had closed them, I spotted Hana staring at me with an expectant look on her face.

"Well. You have your dango. You can go now," she said, obviously frustrated.

Damn. She almost got me with the dango.

But I couldn't leave yet. My curiosity needed to be sated.

"It is acceptable for Miko-san to be in this conversation. She is your sister, after all. The Hyuuga elders have expressed their utmost trust in the Inuzuka clan," Hideyo said, coming to my rescue.

Hana grumbled out a resigned 'fine'.

The way Hideyo phrased it...

The Hyuuga's 'utmost trust'? What did they want from my clan?

"What do the Hyuuga need from the Inuzuka?" I asked, somewhat suspiciously.

Hideyo let out a sigh.

"I had hoped you would not pick up on that," he said, a pained look crossing his face.

Hana's head rose quickly from her previously slouched position.

She looked at me like she'd never seen me before.

"The truth is, the Hyuuga are...wary...of certain events. The elders believe that the Inuzuka are, at the very least, trustworthy. Seeing as I am in a team with the daughter of the clan head, the elders decided that it would be in both our clans' best interest to...work together, and so I have been tasked with extending an olive branch. An invitation." Hideyo carefully whispered, wary of prying eyes and ears.

Every word Hideyo spoke had seemed calibrated to say as much as possible...without saying anything incriminating of, well, whatever the hell was going on.

At the very least, he was refreshingly blunt, something that was very _very_ needed right now.

"An invitation to what?" Hana asked. Her voice was shaky, and her eyes had widened slightly. She was nervous. Something was going on, and I'm still in the dark.

"To a meeting. Between clan heads. That is all I can say," he said with an air of finality.

"What do you mean work together?" I asked.

"It is not for me to say. Please understand, I have already revealed too much as it is. The elders will decide what to do next if Tsume-sama accepts," Hideyo replied shakily. His nerves were on edge.

So were Hana's, if the sheen on her forehead was sweat. Oddly enough, I didn't feel _that_ nervous.

Nope. No butterflies in me.

Taking another bite of Dango, I digested the implications.

"So, what was that about a poisoning?" I asked, swallowing the green-tea flavored confection.

"Some time ago, when the cloud dignitaries came to iron out the peace treaty, there was an attempt on the Hyuuga head's life. Naturally, the culprit was found to be some cloud-nin. He was executed," Hana explained.

"Yes, but that is not the whole story," Hideyo interjected.

Hana shot me a look, like I shouldn't be here right now.

"The poison was to be ingested. Through the tea. Thankfully, Hiashi-sama was able to detect it," Hideyo explained.

I looked down at my dango, and felt sick. I dropped the stick, suddenly losing my appetite.

"Recent findings, however, indicate that it is very possible that Cloud are not the true culprits," Hideyo continued.

Traitors being those true culprits remaining unsaid. But then what of the Cloud-nin executed, and the recompense paid in the life of Hiashi's twin? The implications and the possibilities were...

 _Unpleasant_ , to say the least.

"So where do we come in?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, that is all the information I am privy too, but the elders had hoped that the Inuzuka, being skilled trackers...the attempt involving poison...well, that is self explanatory," the Hyuuga explained nervously.

Watching the occasional ninja jump past on the rooftops, I noticed a familiar star-encased fan embroidered on a ninja's shoulder.

Reminded, I asked, "What about the Military Police?"

Hideyo fidgeted. "It is in everyone's best interest if this is settled without the authorities interfering."

They didn't trust the Uchiha.

Hmm. Hideyo was pretty good at this. He was careful not to implicate anything. He slipped up here and there, but nothing too drastic. Nothing that we couldn't pass off as childish prejudice against the Uchiha.

Impressive, for a Genin. Of course, I'm barely even an academy student, so what right did I have to judge? The only thing I knew about clan politics was hearsay and stories from random people and retired old ninja coots.

Elderly Inuzuka _loved_ to complain about everything. Politics included.

The Hyuuga clan must be in an uproar by now.

Or, well, as uproarious as a Hyuuga could get. Unbidden, the mental image of the entirety of the Hyuuga clan simultaneously glaring at a dog that had just dumped on their lawn, and then turning up their noses synchronically. Yeahp, probably that.

I had to stifle a giggle. This was serious.

It would make sense for the Hyuuga to be somewhat secretive about this. It was either retribution by death or by war after the incident, Cloud was pissed. If Hizashi died due to some sort of mistake, then Hiashi would be understandably pissed as well.

The Hyuuga affair was something of an open secret, so I had assumed that it had gone the same way as I remembered from the anime. Guess not. Word on the street was that Hiashi was unaffected, and maybe even relieved with his brother out of the way.

Of course, the word on the street was always to be taken with a grain of salt. If the show was anything to go by, that was completely and absolutely untrue. Just one of the risks of unreliable information and rumors, I guess.

They must have seriously briefed Hideyo on this. To him, this was quite possibly a mission that mattered more than his life. Freakin' Hyuuga, you could almost smell the fear on him.

"...We'll pass on the message. It's getting kinda late, I'll take Miko home now," Hana said quickly, standing up.

Hideyo nodded. Standing up, he waved farewell. We returned the gesture and went our seperate ways.

"Come on Miko," Hana said, pulling my arm.

I didn't protest.

"Miko, you're barely a week into the academy. You're too young to have to worry about these things," she said.

I didn't share the sentiment.

"Don't involve yourself in this alright?" Hana pleaded. I could see the look of desperation in her eyes.

"Of course," I responded, giving off my most convincing innocent expression.

She smiled, and we made our way home.

* * *

I didn't like lying to Hana.

I mean sure, I lied to her a lot, but those were just for fun. This though...this was serious.

But I didn't want her to worry. Besides, it's not like I was gonna get seriously involved or anything. I was just curious. _Very_ curious. Especially since I'm fairly certain this didn't happen in the series. Either my memory was shoddy, or stuff wasn't the same.

I decided it was a bit of both. I have to admit, a lot of the things from the anime slipped my mind. It had been a long time since I'd seen the series sooo...

Yeah. There was a lot of stuff I forgot. Like the fact that Ino and Sakura hated each other at present.

"Like Sasuke would ever like someone with pink hair, Forehead!" Ino screamed.

"B-better than some ugly boar, Ino-pig!" Sakura returned.

Sigh. This had completely and utterly failed to cross my mind when I decided to invite both of them for lunch.

I had enrolled a bit later, but thankfully the academy let me in Kiba's year. All concerns about my age being a hindrance were practically waved away with Tsume as my mom.

Of course, this meant that I had a ton of work to do to catch up, which sucked. Good thing most of it was easy for someone who had gone to school already. Except for Japanese. I had to learn that pretty much from scratch, and I still kinda suck at it

But anyways, being a bit of a late entry, I had apparently missed Sakura and Ino's short lived friendship, as well as their subsequent falling out. I didn't even know what they were fighting about.

"Um, hey guys? What's this about?" I asked.

"Why did you invite HER?" They both shouted at the same time.

I had to rub my temples. Little girls can be pretty loud, apparently.

"Sasuke is mine, Forehead!"

"Keep dreaming, Ino-pig!"

Well, they weren't very creative. They've been using the same insults...for a while now.

Sulking, I took a bite out of my barbecue. Sakura and Ino had left their food abandoned, and they looked like they were cold and lonely. Poor barbecue sticks.

I honestly had no idea what to do about the situation. I had already known Ino, pretty much like how most clan kids knew each other (with the exception of a certain Uchiha, of course. Stupid uptight pricks), so we have a decently storied history together.

Sakura, I had just met pretty recently. She actually didn't come off as a fangirl. She was pretty smart. Smarter than I would expect a civilian born little girl to be, anyway. She had read up on the material fairly quickly, and knew most of the stuff I was still getting around to grasping. She was helping me catch up with studies, too.

So...now what. This was a pretty unpleasant situation to be in, and just kinda awkward.

Meh, they'll sort it out eventually, right? Who was I to interfere?

Inwardly shrugging, despite the niggling that told me to _do something,_ I decided to leave them to it.

They had managed to tolerate each other while ordering, but an offhand comment I made about the Military Police immediately had them shouting about Sasuke.

Dammit, I was just fishing for info. Were they really fighting over him? I had to stifle a laugh at the thought.

Said little Uchiha was a lot less dark and cold than I had him pegged for. The runt was actually pretty adorable. So were the others, actually.

Chibi Ino turned to me. "Oh yeah, Miko! Gratz on starting the academy a year early," she smiled.

"Oh yeah, how'd you manage that anyway?" Chibi Sakura asked, eyes widening.

Well...at least they stopped fighting.

I shrugged, "My mom's clan head. And an Inuzuka. Arguing with her is about the worst thing you can do."

Ino had seen my mom in action. She could have you scrubbing the entire neighborhood clean, and you'd _still_ feel like you weren't doing enough to stave off her growling and glaring.

Ino shuddered, "I hate to think of what she'd do to the poor Chunin that denied your entrance."

Sakura looked confused.

"Your mom can't possibly be _that_ scary," she reasoned.

"She raised Kiba, and he obeys her every word. Without question," I said, straight faced.

It was a bit of an over-exaggeration, but it got the point across.

Sakura actually looked scared.

"Hmm, now that I think about it, our class has a _lot_ of clan heirs, huh?" Ino wondered aloud.

"What about Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, no, he has an older brother," I answered.

Sakura deflated with a sad 'oh'.

"Hey, why are you asking about Sasuke being an heir, that all you wanted, Forehead?" Ino started, sounding hostile.

"Of course not, Ino-pig! Do you really like him, or is it just for your clan, hmmm?" Sakura returned, equally hostile.

Damn. Shots fired in both directions.

Another sigh. Great, more of this.

* * *

A/N: Updates will probably pick up after March 5


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm currently deciding on whether to have Miko on Team 7 or just go solo-ish. Originally, I planned to have her replace Sakura (sorry Sakura), and go with the Naruto plot flow, with a number of changes. Recently though, I've been thinking, and having Miko strike out on her own wouldn't be too different.

Naruto has a big mouth, he'll keep Miko updated. If I do follow this route, Miko will probably be doing a lot of joint missions with teams as 'backup/tracking', but generally the main difference would be the order in which Miko encounters things. Either she encounters the outside world with Team 7 first, then whatever the hell is happening in Konoha (Shhhh) or vice versa.

Either way, I'm still undecided. Also academy is taking longer than I expected. Oh well.

...

* * *

Howling at A Starless Night

Chapter 5

* * *

...

"Hello," she greets me.

Her voice is smooth and strange. Like oil, I can almost feel her words slither down my spine.

She speaks again, but this time her voice is stranger. It is quiet, calm, yet I cannot help but feel dread upon hearing it. Whatever she said, I forgot quickly after.

I try to make out her features, but nothing is distinguishable.

It is familiar. The way she speaks. The sway of her indiscernible proportions. I know them, but they are completely alien to me.

She laughs, loud and jarring. I have heard that laugh before. I am certain. For some reason, I feel like it should provide me with comfort, but all I feel is a cold emptiness

She looks at me and our eyes meet.

I can't tell if they are small or large, or what color they are.

But they pierce me. Completely and utterly, they pierce through every fibre of my existence. She does not look away, and I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

Her imperceptible lips curl up. Her smile is empty, just like the sensation traveling through my nerves. Empty. The lack of anything. Absolute nothingness. Devoid of all existence.

I can only shudder at the pervasion of my senses. It is indescribable, for one such as myself.

I wonder to myself if I should greet her. After all, I've been impolite, haven't I?

My eyes drift away from her lips, up to her eyes. Still, nothing is changed. They greet me, like the cold stare of a corpse, rotting away. My stomach churns. I am nervous, but these are no butterflies I feel. These are the thrashings of beasts. I hold her gaze, but I cannot define anything.

'I should greet her,' I decide.

Slowly, carefully, I open my mouth.

She waves away my courage with a gesture of her arm. Was it quick? Were her arms slender? I cannot tell. Once again my inability to distinguish her fills me with dread.

I stand there, mouth open. No words come out. Again, she smiles at me.

It is empty.

I try to approach her. I cannot tell the distance between us, but I can see her eyes, her mouth. Even if I cannot grasp a solid image, they are still there.

She can't be too far. I take a single step forward. My legs are shaking. They disagree with me, telling me not to go on. I attempt to raise my left foot, but it is as if my body is not my own. I have met a wall, my commands are ignored, and I stay there, rooted.

I can still see her, she is sitting down now - on what? - I don't know.

She oozes familiarity, and yet everything about her screams _wrong_. The screams. They are loud, unbearably so. Like the Universe had made a mistake, an error, and she is the culmination.

My ears ring from the screams, as if Existence was trying to rip her from itself, and it failed. The Universe and Existence, in their impotence, resigned themselves to thrashing about in my eardrums.

Finally, my body gave way. The foot on my left that had been so unaccommodating to my orders had moved - only it didn't raise itself, like I had commanded. Instead, it collapsed, sharply. Just like the rest of my body.

With a dull 'thud', I found myself on the ground. It signaled the end of the chorus of Everything. The ground was smooth, and quite possibly the hardest surface I had ever landed on. My limbs were strewn about, limp and powerless.

With a light groan, I made on effort to get back up. Placing my palms firmly on the surface, I pushed up. I raised my head, and the noise returned. Ringing in my ears, deafeningly silent, in perfectly synchronized disharmony, the chorus of Everything.

I couldn't comprehend it.

Like John Cage's _4'33"_ on maximum volume, crushing my eardrums

 _(where did that thought come from who the hell is that what the hell what the fuck is happening)._

Like the echoes of a monk, perishing in silence as flames lick at his prone form. Like a child's voice grasping for a little frosted cake, as the loon circles around his little frosted fingers. Like an Emperor's strut, blossoming in his radiance as his subjects cry his indecency.

 _(What the fuck does any of this mean?)_

Half remembered stories, none of them making any sense, assaulted my hearing. The only way I could describe it, as indescribable as it was. Everything. All at once. Nothing. Deafening in its absolute lack of anything. They hammered me into the ground.

 _What are these thoughts?_

I felt the need to retch. Choking on bile, I could taste the salty tang of tears streaming into my mouth.

Suddenly, a cold hand grasped my face, and the chorus of Everything disappeared once more.

"Wow, you suck," came her voice. Cold, apathetic. Wasn't she just sitting some distance away?

Her touch was icy, as was her voice. Those three words, each like an icicle, stabbing into my nervous system. Even more so were her fingers. Spindly, like a spider's legs crawling on my face.

Her grip pulled up, my eyes with it.

Her expressionless features held their composure.

My eyes met hers in a staring contest I could never hope to win. She looked at me...

No, she looked _through_ me. A spike of fear erupted in the pit of my stomach, and I turned away.

I heard a giggle. Soft, unthreatening. It was one of the most horrific sounds I would have the pleasure of hearing in a long time.

Her grip pulled again. This time, I was drawn to her mouth.

To her upturned lips.

To her smile.

And it was empty.

...

* * *

...

 _'What the fuck,'_ I repeated in my head, over and over again.

I could feel the cold sweat dripping down my back, staining my bedsheets. My breathing was erratic; my heart was racing. I could hear it beating so loud I almost panicked.

 _'Calm down, it was just a dream,'_ I tried reassuring myself.

But dreams are never so vivid. Every action I had taken, every nauseating, bile-inducing _whateverthefuck_ I witnessed... No way was it all just a dream, right?

The feelings were just too real. Way too real.

Calming down, I decided to rationalize the dream. _Sight?_ Foggy, nothing was truly distinguishable. _Sound?_ Impossibilities. All of them. _Touch?_ Cold. Unnatural. Those hands made me feel sick. _Scent?_ Oddly enough, not much. Anything at all? Not sure. _Taste?_ I definitely tasted bile and some salty liquid. Gross.

Besides smell... All were pretty much accounted for in some way. That combined with the fact the I remember _quite vividly_ most of what happened, yeah. Way, way, way, _waaaay_ too real.

Hell, I remember some of my thoughts. Almost nothing made sense to me now. They were foreign and incomprehensible. Full of names and images that mean nothing to me. _Invasive... Thought?_ What in Kami's name was I thinking about? I tried to rack my brain for an answer. Nothing I understood.

And of course, there was the elephant in the room. The all-too sly, massive, and completely indistinguishable elephant. I could still feel her fingers on my face, the sheer contact plunging my nerves into ice.

Shivering, ' _definitely not a normal dream,'_ I thought.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I contented myself with the possibility that I was just having a lucid dream. Unlikely, but every other possible theory was even more unlikely - mostly because this was the only theory I could come up with.

Letting my head drop back to my pillow, I decided to sleep on it.

...

Light streamed into my room from my 'window', all too bright and intrusive. Well, not like I was going to get much sleep after that dream/nightmare/?.

...

* * *

...

The Academy was the least of my worries. It just wasn't important enough to put much effort into. Besides, my mind was too pre-occupied with stuff to focus on whatshisface-sensei go on about the many rankings among ninja and their roles.

' _So who was that woman_?' I wondered. Nothing that was indicative of anything, really. I tried looking into old memories, but anything about my old life was so foggy it was almost pointless.

For some reason, information on Naruto's world was still fairly easy to remember. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the rest of my memories. I remember bits and pieces. Never the whole, and it was annoying. I couldn't put names to faces in my memories and vice versa, so even if the woman's features were clearer, I probably wouldn't be able to name her.

She didn't say much, did she?

She said 'Hello'.

She said something else I couldn't make out.

And she said...

'You suck,' or something like that.

Well, wasn't that a downer? Meet someone for the first time, and boom, "You suck." Well, it was just some lady in a dream anyway. Even if I did know her before, she's unimportant now.

 _'She's unimportant,'_ I consoled myself. Trying to find out her identity was an exercise in pointlessness. With these thoughts, I decided to leave the subject of the mystery woman for another day (never).

"NARUTO!" a loud voice angrily intoned, almost making me jump, "If you don't start paying attention, you'll never make it to Genin!"

Was this Iruka? I couldn't really tell, and I paid almost zero attention to class.

Naruto was currently asleep, drooling on his desk.

"Uwa..hnghhggnhh," Naruto groaned in response. Retaliating, Iruka(?) let his arm down in a whip-like motion, Konoha standard Info-book in hand. Getting whacked hard with an old textbook, I couldn't help but cringe at the sound of Naruto's punishment.

I cover my ears to muffle Naruto's screams of pain, but I can see him rubbing a very red cheek.

"Pay attention," Iruka teacher-person says sternly. I immediately stop paying attention. Naruto _loves_ goading the teachers on. It wasn't going to be pretty.

 _1 hour and 34 minutes later_

 _'Dammit, Naruto!'_ I think to myself, panting and out of breath.

"No slacking Miko! This is a class punishment, that means _everyone_ has to complete all their laps, and you still have a good seven more," Stupid Teacher-Mcpersonface admonishes me.

' _Dammit, Naruto!'_ I curse again, taking off in a sprint.

 _2 hours and 26 minutes later_

 _'Stupid teachers,'_ I angrily rant in my head, my outward body too busy panting to make words. At least Academy was over for the day.

On my way out of the Academy grounds, I stop by the entrance. Not sure why, just a feeling, telling me to stay. My eyes dart around, looking over the students, some leaving, some staying behind to chat or play. The children group up to play ninja in the streets or go to the park.

...Well except for Naruto anyway.

His spiky blonde hair peeks out from the playground like a beacon. He's sitting on a swing, kicking at the ground in a futile effort to get some speed. The other kids keep a distance. He looks lonely and defeated.

 _'Do I approach him?'_ I ask myself.

I haven't been going out of my way to ostracize him or anything, but well... The village keeps him under tight wraps. Everyone in the village is wary of the Nine Tails. Unfortunately for Naruto, no ridiculous pedigree of epic ninja parentage and ancestry is going to save him from being avoided at all costs.

Unlike Naruto, Kushina had trainers and an entire village full of sealing masters to make sure she could keep the Kyuubi in check. If i remember correctly, she had some sort of chakra-constructs to detain the chakra demon. Ropes of some sort? My memory was a bit foggy, but at any rate she contained it.

Naruto, on the other hand, had none of that. He was untrained, dangerous, and a living weapon, housing some great big feckin' monster of mass destruction and having no clue. There were no more Uzumaki to train Jinchurikis.

Immediately as this thought crosses my mind, I feel a pang of pity. He's gotten some momentum now, and the swing lifts ever so slightly. Still, he is alone.

No parent wants his child near the container. Rumors of the Kyubi 'taking human form' were commonplace in the village, and while the ninja knew better (usually), civilians ate it up like candy. The shinobi of the village kept their distance because they saw him as a tool. It wouldn't do for ninja to tamper with a village weapon without instruction from some higher-up.

It wasn't uncommon for an off-duty Jounin to offhandedly comment that the 'kid' could use a mentor. I was inclined to agree, and while I hated myself for it, Naruto was a serious ace up Konoha's sleeve that was kinda shafted. I'm sure the Sandaime has his reasons for keeping Naruto untrained and in the dark, but the current weakened state of Konoha meant that most villagers were eager for something to tip the scales.

An unpleasant feeling settles itself in my gut. It's guilt, I guess. I feel slight disgust at myself for thinking of Naruto as a weapon. I take another look at him, and he's given up on gaining speed. He's just sitting now. I feel a more pronounced stab of guilt.

 _Do I approach him?_

The number of ninja who could contest the Kyuubi, if it was ever let loose, being somewhere around 'nowhere near enough', and 'haha yeah nice try' meant that the Kyuubi escaping was not an eventuality Konoha was prepared for. The legendary Sannin, together, might save the village if the need ever arose. The Hokage was probably banking on Tsunade and Jiraiya being enough, but their leaving left almost nobody powerful enough.

Most people at least vaguely recognized the dangers Naruto posed to almost everyone and everything. Most people were smart enough to let sleeping chakra demons lie.

Naruto takes one arm off the old chain holding the swing up. He rubs his forearm, and I can see a slight bluish purple where he nurses himself. A bruise. Probably by those that _weren't_ wise enough to leave him alone. Most of the time, a 'random' ninja would threaten away any danger posed to Naruto, but Naruto was good at losing his 'watchers'.

Warily, I look around. Kiba is playing in the mud with Akamaru. They met only a few days ago and already they were inseparable. They're too absorbed in their... 'Game' to notice me. Besides them, there was no one else.

Chances are there would be a full squad of ANBU on Naruto's tail, 24/7. With the Sannin all gone to the wind, the Sandaime would have to pull something out of his ass to deal with a rampaging Kyuubi.

I took a look around the perimeter again, still nothing of suspicion. Could ANBU really be so expendable as to be used for reconnaissance... In the village? The thought made me less suspicious. No way a whole squad of the village's most dedicated and skilled operatives would be wasted on Naruto-watch.

Maybe just one or two ninja, then. Still fairly certain there's ANBU somewhere.

I surveyed the area again, intent on catching sight of some white animal mask. I chalked it up as a waste of effort. No way some scrub like me would be able to spot them.

I move a little closer, ignoring the fact that Naruto probably had a guard or two on his tail. They hopefully won't do anything unless an order comes from the Hokage to, though. They definitely want to keep their surveillance a secret. Will they count me as a threat? I pause mid-step at the thought.

All in all, I've been wondering whether or not to approach him for a good ten minutes, just watching. Is it the right thing to do? The smart thing? The thing that turns Konoha into a pile of ash?

I'm still deciding when he finally notices me from his swing. He looks at me for a bit, confusion etched on his features. The confusion morphs into a wide grin, and his eyes close as he smiles at me. He raises one hand in a big wave. It's pretty adorable.

I decide to screw the consequences. Naruto looks sad as all hell, and still gives me a wide beaming smile, bright as the sun.

' _He's dangerous,'_ a part of me pleads. I decide to ignore it.

Walking up to him, I see his smile narrow a bit, but he still seems happy someone is approaching him.

"Who're you? You kinda look like Kiba but you're not Kiba." He says excessively loud.

"Kiba's my brother," I reply.

"That's so cool! I don't have a bro, or a sis, it has to like the awesomest thing ever!"

"It's not always so great. I should know, since I have both."

"You have a sis tooooo? That's even cooler! You guys must do all sorts'a cool stuff."

He beams at me, and I can't help but be amused by the blonde.

"Yeah right, like I'd go play in the mud with the mutt over there," I gesture to Kiba over in the distance, playing some sort of game that involved dirt with Akamaru.

He spots me, and blows me a raspberry.

I return the favor, and he goes back to being a Kiba.

Naruto laughs, and I think it's real.

"Hey, think you could push me? I wanna go hiiiiigher, but this swing is super lame," he asks me.

"Sure!" I comply, giving him just enough momentum to get up off the ground. His laughter fills the air.

With every landing, he returns to the sky just a little bit higher. I don't think I've ever seen him happier than he is now.

...

* * *

...

"Can you believe it? _M_ _y_ pups in the hands of some low-life criminal scum?" Kuromaru growls, and I feel an involuntary shiver for whoever crossed him.

"Hey, hey, calm down. We got them all back, didn't we?" Tsume says, making her way into the house. She's holding a puppy in her arms. It's abnormally small by Inuzuka standards.

"Two whole months they were missing! What kind of security does this village even have, it's running rampant with scum," The old ninken complains.

"Those dog fighters aren't a problem anymore."

I blanch at the statement. Tsume herself found the dog-fighting ring's base of operations. Apparently, this particular group had targeted Inuzuka pups as a source of prime fighters.

None of them were still among the living.

"To think that anyone would practice such disgusting treatment of my kin," Kuromaru growls again. "This is the third bust this month! The village is crawling with them."

"There isn't much we can do. Even with the Hyuuga, the slums and the red light districts are just too large to manage," Tsume frustratedly adds.

Konoha was surprisingly large, and had an equally surprisingly large underworld. Yakuza, mercenaries, brothels, gambling dens, Konoha was teeming with them. What made the situation really bad, though, were the surrounding towns. The seedy underworld of Fire country was not confined to Konoha, and it took Tsume weeks to track down where the Inuzuka pups had been transported too.

She eventually got them in Tanzaku Gai, on their way to Kami-knows where. The tip-off came from the Hyuuga, who we had strengthening ties with. Tsume had apparently accepted whatever terms and conditions Hiashi had offered her, and we found ourselves a very helpful ally in the Hyuuga.

The puppy in her arms whimpers at the sound of Kuromaru and Tsume growling. Immediately, they stop, and Tsume hands the puppy over to Kuromaru. This pup was one of his, and he'd definitely done everything he could to find the little guy. He nuzzles the puppy, and the whimpers stop.

The puppy had apparently undergone some experimental techniques that ultimately failed, and Tsume definitely was not pleased by that. The dog fighters had given him multiple drugs meant to make him grow faster, but had somehow stunted his growth instead. Tsume had been complaining for hours about how he would never reach his full potential.

It was a shame, he looked very much like Kuromaru, but a matted gray coat covered his entire body, unlike his father's much darker tones. He would grow into the size of maybe a regular house pet, but not much more.

Something about the pup instantly struck me. Still, usually they choose your partner for you, but something about this puppy called to me.

"Mom, I think I know who my partner is."

"Are you sure? The ninja life might be a bit too hard for him," Tsume worried.

I wasn't worrying.

Something in my gut told me this was right.

"I'm sure."

I take the pup from Kuromaru, who gives me a solemn look.

"He's more than a partner, understand?" he tells me seriously.

I take a look at the little gray ball of fur in my arms.

"So much more," I say with certainty.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: Not much to say, besides that Miko will not be placed on a team. A mentor, most likely. Or something like that.

Graduation will almost definitely come in the chapter after the next.

...

* * *

Howling at A Starless Night

Chapter 6

* * *

...

I remember the first time I gazed into those eyes, darker than the night sky. They found me, and I held his attention for far too long.

I wondered how someone's irises could possibly be so black, as if his pupils extended over them. I couldn't look away from his indifferent gaze, the pools of darkness peering at me. Calling to me. Drowning me.

"This is my Itachi-nii!" squealed out a cute little voice. Sasuke beamed, proudly showing off his older brother.

"Hello, little ones," Itachi greeted us, smiling. Okay, so maybe we didn't _really_ make eye-contact for a long time, but it sure felt like it.

"Kami, he's soooo cooool~!"

"Can you teach us how to do a giant fireball?"

"Do you have any swords? I wanna see your swords!"

"Make your eyes go red!"

The kids went on, badgering the poor man. Funnily enough, he did his best to placate the demanding children, even going as far as unsheathing a tanto. "...That's a big-boy sword," Naruto remarked, inhaling dramatically.

"Indeed it is," Itachi smiled at him, looking for all the world like he actually _enjoyed_ being pestered by a bunch of kids.

"Niiii-chaaaaan, it's gettin' late, we gotta go!" Chibi-Sasuke complained, obviously annoyed at having his brother 'stolen'.

"Alright, otouto, let's head home," Itachi calmed his jealous brother. The kids all 'aawwwed' in disappointment.

"But we haven't even seen your eyes go red!" Kiba cried.

Itachi let his gaze wander over the group and his lips turned upward in a slight smile. "That's not something I would wish upon my greatest enemies, let alone ones such as yourselves," he remarks.

And for awhile I felt complete and utter numbness. Unexplainable and inextricably tied to the Uchiha, I felt numb. He turned to leave, and the feeling left me as well. I thought I was safe from the peculiar sensation.

Only... his head turned to give us one last look, just a slight turn, but enough to expose a single eye. The single pool of black peered at me, and I felt coldness creep up my spine.

It was only for a fleeting moment, but I felt my skin crawling. It was only for a fraction of a second, but I felt my heart drop into my stomach. It was only for a sliver of an instant, but it had felt like time stopped for en eternity, and I was frozen in fear.

Because I could have sworn I caught a glimpse of crimson piercing me. He didn't look back again.

...

But that was a pretty long time ago, and the kids at the academy were not quite as cute anymore.

That was the first time I had met Itachi Uchiha... If being part of a group of kids harassing him counted as 'meeting'.

And while he was out doing S-ranks, we were all still in school. Class was boring as usual.

I surveyed the students around in their desks. Quite a number were asleep, including Naruto, Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, a smattering of kids I was unfamiliar with, and surprisingly, Sasuke.

Our current teacher, for whatever period it was (I wasn't keeping track) was too absorbed in his speech (of something) to stop and wake up the bunch.

The kids were still pretty cute, I guess. Much more so now that they were asleep. The atmosphere in the classroom was relaxing. One almost forgot about the broiling tension in Konoha when subjected to the Academy's curriculum.

I looked around a bit, and spotted Hinata. Shy as always, her demeanor was a stark contrast to the symbol embroidered quite prominently on her clothing. A round-topped cone thing with a little flame in the center - the Hyuuga clan symbol.

Okay, so I'm not the best at describing silly little emblems, anyways, they were everywhere.

All around me, students would display their clan emblems proudly on their clothing. Even me and Kiba were given emblems to sow on the backs of our clothes. You'd think having it basically _tattooed on your face_ would be enough, huh?

The civilian kids probably didn't notice, and I doubt their parents noticed either. Ninjas all over the village started adopting the practice, and it spread like wildfire. Clan pride was taking Konoha by storm.

My eyes found the back of Sasuke's sleeping form, the Uchiha fan on it was a given. Well, it's not hard to guess who started the trend.

 _Ohh those Uchiha._ Sasuke even had a cute little _Gunbai_ \- a war fan - strapped on his waist. It was probably to signify prestige, Sasuke being the clan head's son and all.

At first, I had thought the whole clan pride thing would be great for the village. I thought that the bonds between ninjas would be strengthened.

I was wrong. Now, factions had very clear barriers between them. I mean, there was always a degree of separation, but now the divides were so glaring that the social structure of Konoha now included very obvious sideways divisions.

Konoha has always had a certain feudal element, and a fairly restrictive social caste system. It used to be fairly simple, though. You had the underground, those seedy faceless organizations that held the slums and red-light districts.

Then the peasants and merchants, although one was far superior to the other depending on who you asked. Merchants brought trade and commerce, but peasants working the land were the backbone that kept us all alive; opinions varied, but in general, they were around equal.

Then there were the ninja. Deserving or not, the ninja were almost the highest caste in society. Ranks like genin, chunin, and jonin only served to differentiate the degree of respect and power a ninja was given. All ninja, even genin-corp dropouts and retirees, were among the social elite of Konoha.

That's all changing now. In between the ranks of 'genin' to 'hokage', ninjas now took into account which clans were the most powerful.

Clans like the Akimichi who owned multiple restaurants and farms were quite high up the food chain, so to speak. Clans with powerful kekkei genkai and a multitude of techniques to share (or you know, hoard) like the Uchiha were pretty high up there too. The only thing _really_ stopping the Uchiha from taking the number one seat would be their _terrible_ relationships with most other clans.

After the ninja, the royals. The daimyos and lords of the world were socially above ninja. However, many of them were simply puppets and held little real power. Of course there were some exceptions.

And that's a fairly general summary of our feudalistic society.

Once upon a time, ninja were viewed as a single entity in the village; they were all part of the same social construct, a community within the community. Petty clan squabbles were seen as nothing more, and would not get in the way of shinobi cooperation. Rivalries were healthy, creating an atmosphere where clans had to continuously improve upon and develop techniques.

Now, the emblems, the banners, the _gunbai_... They all served to darken the once invisible lines that separated the clans. Ninja social structures were slowly constricting around themselves; differing clans relied on each other less and less.

Most of the Inuzuka medicinal supplies and herbs were from clans like the Yamanaka and Akimichi, who controlled a fair portion of the production. Now, Tsume's definitely been grinding her teeth at the prices they've been offering.

'Extortionist bastards,' she'd grumble every so often. This was just one of many examples. Clans were hunkering down on techniques, supplies, culture. Everything. Things were bad, and they were getting worse.

I suppose it's not really something new. Clan pride and prejudice must have been boiling beneath the surface for who knows how long. I had thought that it was relatively harmless, with the exception of the Uchiha and maybe the Hyuuga who were just a bit too proud. But it's become frighteningly obvious that many of the clans see themselves in a much more individualistic light.

Ultimately, the idea of village unity was slowly fading, and the needs of the clan were now almost on equal consideration with the needs of the village. Of course, the Uchiha probably don't give a flying fuma-shuriken about the rest of the village.

Okay, so they _probably_ care about the village too, but see what I mean? My clan bias is talking!

...

* * *

...

On the way home from the Academy, I can't help but feel a sombre presence hanging in the air. Villagers are milling about, but the daily commerce of the markets and the hustle and bustle of Konoha are strangely diluted.

Hushed whispers and worried expressions glaze the streets.

"Did you hear, about the outpost?" a woman asks another, and I listen in, curious.

"Who hasn't!" her companion replies. Well I certainly haven't.

"What do you think-" she suddenly stops speaking midway through her sentence, and I wonder why. I take a closer look at the two, another figure has joined them. He towers over them, like a stone sentry.

"It would be unwise to continue this line of discussion, don't you think so, ladies?"

The voice is polite, but with a hint of danger. He wasn't there a second ago.

I can't make out too much of his face, but he's wearing some kind of modified flak jacket. His has large plated shoulder-pads that extend to his elbows, and a raised neckline. It's also a coppery-brown color, instead of green.

I try to get a better look, then I see it. Emblazoned on one of his shoulder pads, a shuriken-like star shape, the Uchiha fan in the center.

The symbol of the Military Police.

It seems that they've had a change of uniform, and for some reason, I think I've seen it before.

Abruptly, the streets turn dead silent. No one is moving, and the two women look terrified. The Uchiha stands before them, silent like a statue. I wonder what he's waiting for.

"Is there a problem here?" a voice calls. Asuma casually moves to stand in front of the two civilian women.

"Ah, Sarutobi-san, so good to see you," the MP member greets, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "These two civilians were discussing classified information. I was merely stepping in to stop them before they said something they shouldn't."

"Well, you've stopped them. No harm, no foul, right?" Asuma laughs in mock cheer. The two women visibly tense up.

Asuma's voice takes a threatening edge, losing all traces of his former aloofness. His eyes narrow into furious slits, "Besides, it's not exactly classified if everyone knows about it, is it?"

He slips his hand into his jacket, a glint of metal peeking out catches my eye. The Uchiha stiffens, his hands travel to the tanto on his back.

Asuma is calm and collected. Surprisingly, the Uchiha twitches every so often. As if he cannot wait to sink his blade into a comrade's flesh. Maybe this was what he was waiting for all along.

It only lasts for a few seconds, but it feels like time passes in slow motion.

Suddenly, the Uchiha makes a move.

He rushes forward, and only a fraction of a second later, Asuma follows. They collide... But not with each other. It happened in a blur, and if I wasn't seeing it now, I would have thought one of them was hit.

A figure stands in between them. He is shorter than both men, but no less imposing. His hands extend in both directions, one arm to stop one combatant.

He shares the Uchiha's coppery flak jacket. Another MP, then.

"What's going on here?" he asks. I don't know why he needs to question them, as he obviously knows what's happening.

Asuma's trench knife digs into the man's extended shoulder pads. They must be armored, maybe with metal plates. The man is too far to determine, and moving in closer would not be wise. On the other side, he holds his fellow Uchiha's wrist in a vice grip. The tanto is inches from his body.

"A little misunderstanding, yes?" he answers his own question when neither of the other two speak.

"Go home," he commands the other Uchiha. The Clan member hesitates for a moment, but ultimately sheathes his tanto and disappears in a swirl of leaves.

With the other Uchiha gone, the man relaxes and steps away from Asuma. Asuma's stance does not change. He does not put away his knives.

"No need to be so hostile," the Uchiha says to the Sarutobi. His words have no effect.

Asuma refuses to budge, staying resolutely silent. The street remains frozen. "It was just a misunderstanding, after all," the Uchiha attempts to placate the Sarutobi.

Asuma grunts in reply.

"Very well," the Uchiha sighs, and walks away.

It is not until he is out of sight that the street begins moving again. The civilians return to their previous moods. Asuma relaxes, pocketing his trench knives. Inwardly, I wonder if I had misjudged him as unworthy of my attention.

"T-thank you so much, Sarutobi-san!" the two women express their gratitude.

Asuma turns and grins, scratching the back of his head. "Oh, it was nothing. What kind of man would leave two beautiful ladies undefended!"

...

Stupid Asuma.

At this point, I decide it's better for me to drown out the conversation. I continue to my destination. Home.

Suddenly, I realize where I've seen the new Military Police uniform. The copper flak jacket resembles the samurai armor once worn by the Uchiha before the founding of the village.

The armor once worn by Madara Uchiha.

...

* * *

...

Sighing, I take a seat by the dinner table. I am the only one home for now. So the Uchiha are changing their uniforms to match the ones they once wore during the Warring Era, huh?

That's probably not a good thing. I fold my arms on top of the table and crash my head into them.

I feel something furry resting on my lap. Ah, so... not _completely_ alone, then.

I stand up, holding Iromaru in my arms. That's what I decided to name him. Tradition dictates that the family of the clan head name their partners after colors. I don't know why, but I'm sure I'll find out one day.

'Iro' basically means color. Not the most creative, but I didn't really feel anything else was right. In the past, there have been a couple 'Iromarus' as well, so it wasn't _that_ stupid. Tsume gave me a funny look when I told her my partner's new name.

'It wasn't that stupid,' I tried convincing myself again.

I made my way to our backyard, and let Iromaru down. The sun was setting. I love the orange sky of sunsets. They're just so... Enchanting.

I breathe in the fresh air. It's fantastic, so pure and free. I take a seat on the ground, the grass somewhat soft. Iromaru is by my side, looking contented. Funnily enough, I used to hate the outdoors. Now, the wildness and freedom the outside offered was something I loved.

I take a few more moments to admire the yellows and oranges of the sky, changing into vivid red. Suddenly, I am reminded of a flashing scarlet eye, and I look towards the ground. Blanching at the reminder, I try to flush away the memory. Or the imaginary memory?

It's no use. I suppose it's a good thing. I'm not out here just to watch the sky, after all.

Right.

I focus inwards, grasping the energy within my coils. I feel it flow through me. There, my chakra. Now onto the real stuff.

Gathering my chakra around my fingertips, I focus on sharpening my nails. They extend ever so slightly, but not enough. I feel too much chakra escape, expelled through my hands. A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead.

Exhausted, I release the chakra from my fingers, and collapse backwards onto the ground.

Raising a single hand above me, I examine it. The sharpened tips have already disappeared, and the skin of my fingers is cracked. The chakra has dispersed. Not enough control, then. I let my hand collapse onto the ground with the rest of my tired body.

 _'Not good enough,'_ I tell myself. These were the basics. Even Kiba could form claws at this point! I trace my steps, wondering where I went wrong.

I felt it. My chakra escaping my fingers. Control. I needed more control.

But I could do the stupid leaf sticking exercise, which was fine I guess. Surprising, actually. I doubted I would be able to do _anything_ since I had been having chakra issues all throughout my life. Practical application of chakra was probably my worst subject in the Academy. I wasn't the absolute worst, but I was pretty close.

Something _wet_ dragged itself across my face, breaking me out of my thoughts. Surprised, I shot up into a sitting position.

Iromaru ended up on my lap.

He licked me. That was weird. Iromaru was usually pretty reserved. I pat the top of his head, feeling slightly awkward. He curls up into himself, closing his eyes. Maybe he was uncomfortable on the grass. He seems to like his current position on my lap.

We won't be training together for some time. Not really, anyway. Not until I get the basic transformation down. I swallow this bitter realization to get motivated. We can't begin learning the clan techniques together if I can't so much as hold a basic transformation.

Kami, I suck at this. Kiba and Akamaru were making great progress!

Annoyed, I look up at the sky again. It's getting darker, the sunset fading into night. I wonder at the piece of news that caused such a commotion on the crowded street. Something about an outpost? I'll ask Tsume about it later.

Watching the day fade into night, I drift off.

...

* * *

...

Hana came home later than I expected. I suppose she has the chunin exams to worry about. She mentioned she was planning on competing this year.

She might have been training.

Hana walks into the living room, expression downcast. The Haimaru brothers trail behind her.

I examine her for a bit. Her eyes are shadowed by deep bags, like she hasn't slept for days. Exhaustion marred her face, but not the kind of exhaustion you get from physical activities. No sweat, not a scent of it. Her skin and clothing are not coated with dirt. Her hair is not a tangled mess.

It seems she hasn't been training. I worry a bit. She takes a seat on the couch, facing away from my position on the dining table.

The Haimaru brothers trail out into the backyard, joining a napping Kiba and Akamaru. Iromaru's prone form sleeps across them.

"You alright, nee-chan?" I ask.

"I'm...," she trails off. For a few moments, the air is heavy with silence. I can't see her face from here, but that's probably for the best. "Not really, no, I'm not," she finally answers.

I see my chance, and I take it. It's a shot in the dark, but I hope for the best. "The villagers are all talking about it," I gamble, that it wasn't a coincidence, that her mind is occupied with whatever it is that has the whole tenser than ever.

"So you've heard?" she asks, resigned. "Well, don't believe whatever those gossip-mongers say."

"Then what should I believe?" I question her, fishing for information.

"Well, for starters, that they haven't left for Cloud," she says angrily. "Can you believe it? Some people actually think they've gone over to Kumo!"

Wait, woah. 'They?' 'Left?' I process the information. People are up-in-ams about some defectors?

It couldn't just be that. Ninja defected all the time (which is sad, but true). Usually people don't care too much. The hunter-nin are tasked with finding them, and their names and faces are plastered on our bingo books. Civilians rarely bothered with ninja-business like this.

"Did you know any of them?" I ask.

"Nah, not really," she states a little bitterly. "But I _have_ run some missions with a lot of them." She knows enough. I hear a tang if longing in her voice. Loneliness? Maybe. Regret? Possibly.

"A whole outpost, they say?" I continue, trying to find out how some defectors had anything to do with an outpost.

"The whole place was cleared out. Rations, documents, even the ninja."

"Even the ninja?" I press her.

"It seems they planned it beforehand. Everyone guarding the outpost at the time disappeared."

She left it unsaid. They all abandoned their posts. The commotion in the streets seemed to make more sense now. That was at least twenty ninja, gone. Probably chunin or above. I thought back on Asuma's altercation with the Uchiha. Nothing about the information I had now told me how the MP was involved.

"There was an... argument, in the streets. Two Uchiha and a jounin," I comment offhandedly, hoping she knows why.

She twists on the couch to face me. Her features speak of tiredness. Her eyes are ringed by darkness. She has not been sleeping, I am sure of it now.

"It's no wonder," she sighs deeply before continuing. "The older ninja say that they were signaled to leave."

"By... one of the Military Police?" I guess.

"Yeah, rumor has it that he had a run-in with some ANBU before he made a break for it."

She turns around again, facing away from me. Then, she continues, "They probably thought he would have been caught by the outpost patrols."

That's when he joined them. That's when they left. Shit, this is not good. Ninja are leaving, Uchiha among them. What could that possibly mean for the future? This did not happen in my memories. This should not be happening.

"Do you know why?"

"No. No one really knows _why,_ " Hana answers. She sounds a slight bit angry. "Most of them were a few years older than me," she adds offhandedly. She stretches her arms in an arc above her. She lets out a yawn, and shifts on the couch. Her hair is no longer visible from my position. She wants to rest, to sleep.

Hana signals the end of our conversation. She has given me much, but I still have so many questions. I decide to ask just one more. "Last question," I let out.

"... Only one more," she replies.

"Who was it that escaped first, the one who signaled the rest?"

Her reply is short. Only one name. A name that shoots chills through me. A name that makes me realize just how utterly _screwed_ Konoha is. I stay shock still for a few moments. Then a few seconds. Then minutes.

Thirty minutes pass and I cannot bring myself to move.

I find it hard to breathe, I grasp my lungs in an effort to get them to work. I open my mouth to call for help, but no sound comes out. Hana is asleep now. I claw at my throat, my nails sharpening to lengths I have never achieved before. I am ironically proud. I squeeze hard, and I feel no pain. Blood slithers down my throat.

It takes a few moments. Luckily, I breathe, slowly and deeply. I rub my abused neck. Blood, but not too much. Cuts, but not too deep.

Not too much and not too deep because, I am still alive, after all.

I wipe my bloodstained hands on my sleeves. Shit. My fingers have not yet returned to their regular state, and I cut my sleeves. Consciously, I allow my nails to shrink back into what they were. Not dull, but not sharp enough to damage.

I eye my tattered sleeves, covered in blood. At least it's not Itachi. Itachi might have been worse.

The name. I rationalize as best as I can.

Shisui Uchiha.

He left. He's not dead. At least twenty ninja, I realize. How many of them as strong as Shisui? As Itachi?

'No, this is not good,' I repeat to myself over and over again. Not good. Not at all.

They might be friendly, they might not. Whatever they are, they are a wildcard. I cannot account for them.

My trail of though brings me to the scene of a Sarutobi and two Uchiha. A Sarutobi. The line of the Hokage. Student and chosen successor of the Nidaime, Tobirama Senju. What were those old stories about the two brothers, the sons of the Sage of Six Paths? One gifted in body, one gifted in... something else.

Was it sight? It had to be, right?

How fitting, I laugh. The chosen of the Senju and the Uchiha themselves. Suddenly the face off in the streets feels like much more than a 'misunderstanding'. It feels like an omen, and I am inclined to fear it.

All is not well in Konoha.

I grasp my scarred neck, massaging it. It is caked in my blood. I wonder, absorbed in my thoughts, If the Uchiha were blessed with sight; what did Shisui Uchiha see, that caused him to leave?

My thoughts give no answer. My throat is ravaged. I cough once. Twice. Then it hits me, a racking set of coughs that double me over, and I fall out of my chair. I rub my throat, my knees barely keeping me from buckling.

"Are you okay?" a voice calls from across the room. Hana, but she is still half asleep on the couch. No, she is in no shape to help me. In no shape to see me like this.

"I'm fine," I tell her, and make my way up the stairs, into my room.

Into solitude. Into silence.


End file.
